Then came the Fairytale Mini Swap this summer. My partner for that round was Sandra Richardson.

For this Fall round, my partner is Valerie Norton. These are the goodies she sent me to work with!

And this is what Chris and I sent to Valerie.

Don't you just love the Beaky Bird Chris made especially for Valerie?! We can't wait to see what she makes with it! So with out further ado, here is my first piece (I created two very different designs to compliment Valerie's two very different dichroic focals).

This focal SCREAMED at me 80's Retro! So I went very FUNKY with it, using fun items to compliment the bright, beautiful colors in the dichroic glass. I visited one of my favorite Etsy shops, MyElements, and picked out some of her fun gizmos and flexible tubing to add to the piece. When I thought of funky, retro, and color-the only place I thought of was MyElements. I love her stuff! So anyway (got distracted, bead, oooh shiny!), on one side I made my own chain links using colored wire run through the hollow tubing to be able to shape it as I wanted to. On the other side I used round gunmetal chain and wire wrapped all the goodies to it. On the side with the rubber links, I took apart some of the chain links to use as jump rings for connecting the pieces of tubing. As much as I LOVE mixed metals and all the varied finishes on the chain, it can be a challenge to find the right findings to go with the finishes. Also by using the pieces of chain it tied the two sides of the necklace together without have them be identical. When I got to the finishing part, I used a mix of hand dyed silk strings and ribbon, and black satin rattail cord. I did loose braids with them so that you could see all the colors in play without the cords running around willy nilly on the ends of the necklace. I used bead cones to attach the lovely sterling silver clasp Valerie sent in my soup mix. I don't know that I am crazy about this aspect of the piece, and I may yet rip it apart and redo that issue. What do you think? I would love your input!
For the second piece, I went more Antique Autumn.

I used a bunch of the beads and the focal Valerie sent me in this piece. There were two strands of tiny Druk beads with a clear/antique bronze color that I used in my wire crocheted strands, there are freshwater pearl, Chinese and Czech crystals, mother of pearl rings, and Czech glass pressed leaves with some gorgeous metallic finishes. ***Please let me apologize for the quality of the photos above. I had to finish the pieces quickly enough to get in on the natural light before it ended for the day. At the point of the photos, the necklace was actually TAPED to my neck with a strip of blue painter's tape. Consequently, it doesn't hang as gracefully in the photos as I would have liked. I did complete the piece around 10:30 and promptly whipped up a pair of earrings for a giveaway using more of the leaves and beads and some lovely twisted copper spacers Valerie sent in my soup mix.*** In the necklace I made wired dangles for the beads using 26g Vintage Bronze colored Parawire and hand twisting each bead on the wire. When I connected the beads to the wire I used the twists like a head pin and twisted them on to attach them. I counted and there are 58 dangles on the necklace. I happened to add 29 to each side! Gosh, I am good! The crocheted ropes gave me a bit of a dilemma in how to attach them and have the piece flow together. Chris suggested I use some coordinating jump rings to connect throughout the rope, and then I wrapped the wire tails to the chain links near the back of the piece. I finished it with a floral textured antique silver toggle clasp.

Now for the Antique Autumn Earring giveaway!

If you leave me a comment on the Bead Soup Blog Party post, you will be entered to win these lovely earrings! I will put all the names through a random generator on September 30th and choose the winner. Please be sure to leave a way for me to contact you or stop back on October 1st to see who the winner is!

Please visit the other Bead Soup Partiers, there are 362 of us! Here is the list with links to all their blogs!

WOW!I am so impressed with your versatility, Stephanie. In my memory, when I think of 80s fashion, it all seems so slick and dramatic, but you've made it look so very, very pretty. And I LOVE the second necklace (never would have guessed you were using painter's tape to hold it on in those photos).

It's so nice to visit my old soup partners and get inspired by their talents all over again.

Wow! I remember when you showed off your bead soup, thinking, "I'm so glad I didn't get that dichroic focal, cause it's not my style at all". And of the two, I am just in love with that necklace!! Just goes to show off your talent in designing the perfect complement for such an unusual focal! Awesome talent!And thank you so much for the giveaway!

Lori, the idea for the wired tubing wasn't a big deal, go for it. If you have questions, just email me! You are not late by the way, someone very wise told us it would take awhile to get through all of the bloggers! Thanks for all you do to make this possible!

What a great contrast of styles, and a very funky nod to the 80's (yeah, I'd say I don't remember them, but then I'd get struck by lightning for a whopping lie...) Those were some bold pieces you had to work with, and you made some very nice pieces!

Stephanie, I think you created two amazing necklaces with my dichroic pendants! I really love the "funkiness" of the first one....very clever designs at work there. The crocheting is beautiful in your second piece. I really like the textures and how you combined the colors in that piece. Great job, my swap partner buddy!! It was a great pleasure to swap with you!blessings,

Wonderful! You have created two terrific pieces of wearable art. I like your use of color and texture for both. My favorite is the '80s retro, I love the design. Thank you for sharing your artistic process along the way. Cheers!Lori

Oh my gosh. While I love that second necklace, very vintage looking to me, I ADORE that first necklace with the Dichroic Glass Focal. Very Bohemian Chic to me. I love all the elements, the rubber links, the dangles and all. It's gorgeous. And the earrings are so cute. I'd love to win them.

I am so sorry I am so late , but my computer dug in it's heels and said I'm nota-gonna go that fast:^)Your designs are nothing short of amazing.Thanks for showing the necklace with the elephant:Be blessed to be a blessing

LOL, when you said that it screamed 80's retro and I saw all the little charms, it reminded of me of those plastic charm necklaces and bracelets we used to have. You did a wonderful job. I am so bad at asymmetrical and you made it all look so nice. I love the color and composition of your second piece too. Beautifully done.Melissahttp://design.kcjewelbox.com

Oh, I love the 80s vibe in the first one. Both pieces are so fun, and you have a great sense of texture and color in your work. Awesome soup! (ps, please disqualify me for the giveaway, because I can't wear earrings. :( )